January 14, 2003

Members of Toronto City Council, senior city staff, members of the Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke Chambers of Commerce, ladies and gentlemen.

I'd like to begin by thanking you for being here. I would have liked to have personally recognized all of you, but the time just doesn't permit it.

I am fond of saying that Toronto is the engine that drives Canada. Well you and your businesses are the engines that drive Toronto. You employ people; you work hard and your success has become this City's success.

There's a phrase I'd like to share with you today; it was coined by John Winthrop, a U.S. pilgrim who described America as a "shining city upon a hill."

You could describe Toronto as a shining city, too - and for many of the same reasons that Winthrop had in mind when he used those words 300 years ago.

Toronto is a place of opportunity. It is a place where people from 170 different countries all live together in peace.

It is a wonderful, dynamic, vibrant metropolis, full of wonderful, dynamic, vibrant people.

I get chills just looking out over our city's skyline; I am thrilled riding our subways and walking our streets.

I love our Toronto. I always have and I always will.

I'd like you to think about it for a moment.

We are living and working in the largest city in Canada; the fifth largest city in North America and the most ethnically diverse city in the world.

We are located on one of the largest bodies of fresh water on the planet, with a waterfront that is ripe for development.

We've got a booming financial services industry; a biotech sector that is growing by leaps and bounds; a high-tech sector that can't be stopped and a movie industry that now employs over 28,000 people and is still growing.

We've got live theatre and major-league sports year-round.

We are a transportation hub; a retail magnet and a manufacturing centre, all rolled into one.

A shining city indeed.

January 2, 1998 was the date six cities and seven governments became one. I was there because you put me there - and although it hasn't been easy, I will always be grateful for the opportunity you gave me to make a difference.

Here is something you didn't know; in fact I didn't realize it until I was preparing this speech.

I was the last mayor of the borough of North York. I was the first mayor of the City of North York. I was the last mayor of the City of North York and I am the first mayor of the new, great City of Toronto.

My career in politics has spanned 34 consecutive years; 31 of them as mayor. During my 13 consecutive terms in office, I've worked with seven premiers and six prime ministers.

It's been quite a ride, let me tell you - but I digress.

We were promised a turn-key operation when we walked into Toronto City Hall that January 2, 1998 - but we never got the keys.

What we got was a corporation with a six billion dollar a year budget and no structure.

45,000 employees working under 56 collective agreements. $276 million a year in provincial downloading.

Crumbling infrastructure, no money - and lots of debt.

Amalgamation alone cost us over $200 million; packages for 2,000 laid-off employees cost another $200 million, and there were many other costs I won't even go into here.

Despite all this, I made a promise back then. I said I would use my time in office to make Toronto work. I am here to tell you today that we've made some monumental decisions since then and you know what?

Toronto is working.

Today, there are 130,000 more jobs in Toronto than there were in 1998 - and the value of construction permits climbed another 17 per cent last year, setting a new record high of $3.5 billion.

Today, we are fighting to keep the crime rate down, fire deaths are falling and our emergency medical personnel are responding to crisis faster than they ever have before. Our emergency services are all doing a great job.

Today, Toronto's credit rating stands at Aa1, up from Aa2 - the result, and I quote Moody's Investor Services, of "strong fiscal performance in the face of many organizational and financial challenges."

Just last month, Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management ranked Toronto's economic strength first - the best - in North America.

The groundwork we've been laying since 1998 is really paying off.

Your Toronto City Cuncil has made the tough decisions.

We helped create the Waterfront Revitalization Corporation, which will oversee the transformation of our waterfront. It is no longer a dream; it is happening.

We set up the Toronto Housing Board which will oversee the largest stock of subsidized housing in the country and we will save our taxpayers $25 million in the first three years and then $25 million a year every year after.

We bought Union Station and a private-sector consortium will renovate it at no cost to our taxpayers.

We approved a fixed link to the Island Airport, we drafted and approved our Official Plan for our city to guide development over the next 30 years and we opened the first subway to be built in the past quarter century. By the way, it's exceeding all expectations; imagine if we take it all the way to the Scarborough Town Centre!

I've taken great pride in these and other projects: the Amber Alert program, which uses the public, the police and the media to find abducted children in those first few crucial hours, and the Red Light Camera program, which helps us reduce traffic fatalities at intersections, are among them.

Last year, Toronto was showcased world-wide for one week straight when the Pope visited for World Youth Day - and let me tell you, our city looked great.

The people of Toronto - regardless of their faith - loved the visit and they loved the young pilgrims who came from all over the world.

We have built 66 new waterparks and splash pads; we've opened new recreation centres and outdoor swimming pools. We built 22 new playgrounds and upgraded another 36 old ones to make them safer for our kids - and last year, we saved 85 public school swimming pools.

We hired 223 new paramedics, 117 additional firefighters and 206 new police officers.

We revamped our taxi industry. We're better than we've ever been before at snow removal - and our health inspectors visited more than 15,000 restaurants last year - and closed the dirty ones.

All our restaurants have been smoke-free for one year now - and all our bars will be smoke-free by the end of this year.

Perhaps most important of all, we placed the needs of cities like Toronto on the national agenda.

Everyone is talking about the importance of a new deal for major urban centres - and our calls for help are finally being taken seriously by our partners in Queen's Park and Ottawa.

These things didn't happen by themselves. We made them happen - and we did so because it was important to secure the health, safety and future of this city.

There are cities in North America that have struggled for years to achieve just some of these things.

We've achieved them all plus many more - and we did it during the largest amalgamation in Canadian history.

In fact, we've accomplished more in the past 5 years than any Council, ever. We've tackled every issue that needed to be tackled, no matter how daunting it appeared.

I'm proud of that - and I'm grateful for the support we've received to win the council votes that were important to our city's future.

So, to paraphrase one of America's former presidents: "how stands the city on this winter day?"

More prosperous, more secure, and more recession-proof than it was six years ago.

I am confident that the foundation that we've built is a good one - and that it will lead to an even greater city.

Toronto has grown and prospered - and as I look around me today, I see a great city with jobs and development; a healthy economy perfectly suited to weather any storm - and new leaders in the wings, ready to carry the torch.

I will be handing it over soon. I have decided that this will be my last year in office because ladies and gentlemen, Toronto's future is secure.

I'd like to take a moment to thank the people around me.

My wife, Marilyn who is the light of my life, my best friend and who has been by my side for more than 49 years. Marilyn, I love you very much.

My sons, Dale and Blayne, both of whom I'm tremendously proud of.

And my friends, my staff and my supporters.

I'm proud of all of them, just as I am proud of what we have accomplished in the 34 years that I've been in politics.

I'd like to thank the 44 men and women who make up Toronto City Council.

We don't necessarily agree on all the issues, but I respect their opinions and the job that they do and let me tell you: it's a difficult one.

I'd like to thank our City staff, who are on the front lines delivering service to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

And last but not least, I'd like to thank you - the people of Toronto - for giving me an opportunity to make a difference.

Your unwavering support has been my strength - and it will continue to be my strength.

In the time I have left in office, I am going to work hard to ensure our Official Plan is implemented.

I am going to fight for the lowest property tax increase possible - as I have in previous years.

And I am going to continue advocating for adequate, sustainable funding from the provincial and the federal governments.

On that note, I am delighted to tell you today that the prime minister has given me his assurance that ten years of infrastructure funding is in the pipeline for Canada's urban centres.

Most important of all, I'm going to keep being Mel Lastman. I'm going to keep speaking my mind - and I'm going to keep fighting to ensure that this city on the hill continues to shine.

At the end of this year, I will have had the privilege of being in the political spotlight for 34 years.

Working for you has been a labour of love and I am very grateful for the continued support you've given me.

I grew up on the streets of the Kensington Market. I never had the benefit of higher education.

Being mayor of the greatest city in the world has enabled me to meet wonderful people; it has empowered me to accomplish incredible things and it has given me experiences I never dreamed possible.

I wouldn't trade the last 34 years for anything.

I've learned a lot; I've seen a lot and I love this city and the great people who live in it - a whole lot.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been an honour to serve you as mayor.

Thank you.